


Wireless

by kepic



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:07:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29920092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kepic/pseuds/kepic
Summary: Less optimized CYOA v5 Update Gimel. Second-trigger technopathy, some side benefits, and that's all. Still ridiculously OP in a world with tinkers and ubiquitous electronics.
Kudos: 6





	Wireless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vlad_the_Impaler_the_21st](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vlad_the_Impaler_the_21st/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Worm CYOA 5 - Update Gimel](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/772965) by 3_tankista. 



## Cauldron

I woke up in what appeared to be a motel room. Instantly I groaned and covered my eyes with my hands. It felt like there were thousands of needles digging around in my brain. The pain intensified as there seemed to be more and more of those needles probing.

After what felt like hours the pain subsided, leaving behind expanded awareness. I could feel all the surrounding electronics to a significant range. Carefully prying my eyes open I took another look at the room.

It was a single-bed room, with a lady sitting on a recliner. She was wearing a black tailored suit with a white dress shirt, a black tie, and a fedora. She was pale, pretty instead of beautiful, had black wavy hair, and seemed to be utterly comfortable just waiting.

I had a bad feeling about this. "Where am I?"

"In Brockton Bay," she replied.

"What am I doing here?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging. Despite the casual air she was trying to convey I saw tension in her hands and expression.

"Who are you?" I asked, pretty sure of the answer.

"Contessa."

I sighed and drooped my head. "Fortuna."

She didn't say anything but I could see the muscles in her jaw tense as she bit her teeth together. "I suppose this is something your power told you needed to happen?"

After a short moment of hesitation she nodded. "Yes. I had steps just this far. After this I can't find a path with you in it. You're a blindspot, just like the Endbringers."

"What did the others think? Cauldron isn't in the habit of recruiting this way, I believe."

"They don't know. Yet."

I grunted. "So, let's go meet them. I need to have a word with Doctor Mother, Alexandria, Legend, Eidolon, and Number Man."

She nodded and rose up. "Door to Cauldron."

About a second later a portal to a white hallway opened. Contessa walked through, towards an unmarked white door. I followed. As soon as I the portal had opened all the electronics within Cauldron's base came alive in my mind. When the portal closed after I passed it, I lost the connection to the electronics in Brockton Bay.

I immediately began to go through the computers, check the cameras, and inspect the other security systems. This seemed to consume only a portion of my concentration, and I seemed to have an eidetic memory. Something I definitely didn't have before.

Contessa reached the door and opened it without knocking. Inside I could see Doctor Mother behind her office desk, writing something to a notebook. She didn't even glance at who entered, opting to finish her text before doing so. The Doctor, who might not have an actual doctorate, was dark-skinned and had a long black hair in an impressive bun. She was dressed like an actual medical doctor, though. I almost expected to see a stethoscope around her neck.

"Contessa. And who is this?" Doctor Mother asked. She didn't seem to be surprised by my presence.

Contessa hesitated. "I don't know."

Doctor Mother raised one of her brows. A useful skill, that. I possessed it myself. "Max Masters," I said and offered her my hand. She stood up and we shook. Her grip was pleasant, without being like gripping something dead, or trying to squeeze my hand to submission.

"And what are you doing here, Max?"

"The first part is Contessa's to tell, but after her actions I decided that there were things I needed to talk to Cauldron about. Will it take long for Alexandria, Legend, Eidolon, and Number Man to arrive if you call them?"

"No more than a few hours, usually. Why should I call them?"

I glanced at Contessa. "I know about Zion, and who's behind the Endbringers. And one very bad way to win the coming war against the golden man."

Number Man came in five minutes later with a laptop. Doctor Mother had resumed writing. I and Contessa sat, seemingly doing nothing. I was still going through Cauldron's electronics, and Contessa was probably trying to find a way around me being a blindspot.

About half an hour later Number Man got up. "They're here."

We got up and followed him a few doors down the corridor. Number Man opened the door and we filed in. I could see the Triumvirate already sitting around a large conference table. They looked surprised when I entered. Apparently the Doctor hadn't bothered to mention me.

"Thank you for coming. As you can see, there are things to be discussed. First, though, I think our guest should introduce himself," Doctor Mother said.

I hadn't sat down yet, expecting something like this. "Hi," I began, "I'm Max. I'll probably have to come up with a cape name soon enough, but for now my name should suffice. I'm pretty sure I know your names, so you don't need to introduce yourselves. Unless you, Doctor, have an actual name you want to tell me.

"I'm from an alternate Earth. Similar to this one, but without capes. Without Zion or Eden. In fact, I'm pretty sure my Earth would survive should we fail to kill Zion. I ended up here because Contessa's shard, or whatever you call it, saw an opportunity to screw pretty much everyone over, especially Zion. Or something along those lines, since I don't have a better explanation. Contessa grabbed me, probably when I was sleeping, poured one of your formulas down my throat, took me to Brockton Bay, and let me wake up. That was pretty much as far as her Path took her.

"After gaining my powers I'm a blindspot. Not just to her, but everyone, Zion included. He can't predict me, although he might have enough extrasensory abilities to eventually simulate my responses without actually seeing my future. That isn't a significant problem, nor is it a solution. The Simurgh can't see me either, at all. She can't see the present, only the future and the past. Her senses are entirely pre- and post-cognitive, so she literally can't sense me. At all.

"In my world, yours is a story. I'm sure some or all of you are aware of the theory, that we all live in a story, recursively ad infinitum. This is true for us. To me, you were characters in a story I know very well. I've written enough fanfiction about it. Some of the fanfiction I write is based on 'Choose Your Own Adventure' prompts. I'm fairly sure this is one of them, and if I'm right, then in this one I didn't take any drawbacks to get more points. As such my powers are limited as well, although probably enough to derail the plot and get a better ending. The original sucks."

I raised my hand to interrupt Legend as he was about to ask a question. "Before answering your questions, let me tell the rest of this." I grabbed a carafe from the table and poured water to one of the glasses. After satiating my thirst, I continued.

"As far as I know I didn't change the world at all. I'm here with the same skills and knowledge I had back in my world, and with the same physical capabilities. Which, as you can see, aren't much. I did get myself a few abilities, of course. My cape power is technopathy which is, for some reason, ridiculously cheap, even in its second trigger form. In addition, it's from a third entity, sort of final 'fuck you' before leaving this part of the galaxy. I can sense, control, and destroy electronics within a radius of one kilometer. This includes Tinkertech. And since the third entity didn't really bother to put much of any limitations or directives to its shard, I can also multitask - I can simultaneously control each piece of technology separately with my full concentration, and converse with you.

"I'm also a Noctis cape, with all that it entails. No need to sleep and perfect recall. Oh, and irony of ironies, the shard behind my power gives the finger to entropy. It's pretty much exactly what the entities are after.

"But that's all about me. Here's something that should give some credence to my claims."

I pointed at Legend. "Keith, David, Rebecca, Fortuna, Kurt," I went through them, calling their names. I looked at Doctor Mother. "Your original name wasn't revealed in the story, so I don't know it."

There was a short silence. "So what happened in the story?" Legend asked.

"Oh, nothing much. Brockton Bay became a small fiefdom ruled by warlords, not by Coil, by the way, and S9 came to visit. As a result of what happened there Jack Slash initiated the Zionocalypse couple of years later. Zion kills billions and makes Earth Bet very nearly uninhabitable but is finally killed when a cape undergoes a corona modification that makes them a human Master. They get control of Clairvoyant and Doormaker, and using them Masters most capes to fight Zion. Eventually they're successful but the cost is way too high."

Those present glanced at each other. Legend was chosen to begin the discussion. "So what do you want to do differently?"

I shrugged. "Kill the S9. You'll have to use non-parahumans to take down Jack Slash. His shard pings off others and tells him, subconsciously, what they're about to do. Bonesaw could be useful, but is likely to be more trouble than she's worth. The Siberian has to go, which means you'll have to kill or incapacitate William Manton. I assume you know that she's his projection, right?"

Legend shook his head. The others seemed to know what I was talking about. "Oh, and stop lying to Keith, you assholes. I know you think it is necessary, but it will lead to trouble later on."

"Lying to me?"

"Yeah. I'll leave that for them to explain. Back to my ideas. I need to unshackle Dragon as soon as possible. David has to go to intensive therapy, or he has to die. One or the other. His subconscious need for a challenging foe, and his rampant egomania, is driving the Endbringers to behave the way they are. Which there are seventeen still sleeping. Without David, or his obsession, they won't wake up if we kill any of them, otherwise there'll be two for each one we manage to kill."

David opened his mouth to protest, but Rebecca interrupted. "Shut up, David. We'll talk after this."

"There's at least two significant Simurgh bombs in Brockton Bay. One is a monstrous cape, due to imbibing only a part of one of your formulas, and the other her cape boyfriend. Get rid of one, the other causes incredible damage. I can deal with them if you don't want to."

I paused to drink and saw Doc Mom raise a questioning eyebrow towards Contessa. After receiving a nod from her she turned back to watch me.

"Coil is not really a significant problem, but he's an incredible dick, so I'll be getting rid of him. If David's problem is dealt with the Endbringers will become passive, although they can imprint on other masters. If David manages to get even a smidgen of control over them, they will be an incredible asset, though."

I looked at each of them. "I've uploaded the timeline from the story to your computers. Feel free to take a look. Now, questions?"

"What do you mean about David controlling the Endbringers?" Rebecca asked.

"He has two powers. In fact, he probably has connections to two separate shards, which is why his connection to them sucks. He's also burning through his power's energy reserves too fast. The second power was never meant to be spread out. It's the one that controls the Endbringers, but David's connection to that shard functions only on subconscious level. Your formulas sucked back then, even more than they do now. Oh, and David's an idiot."

"What the Hell?" David exclaimed.

"Well, you are. You barely use any Thinker powers, and apparently haven't used many, if any, Tinker powers. As you fucking well know, Tinkers are bullshit. Thinker and Tinker powers are safest for you to use for now from the energy perspective, as well. Your booster shots are just forcing the shard to use more power when all it really wants is to go on power saving mode."

I looked at the Triumvirate. "You're all pretty combative, considering that your shards don't drive you towards conflict like they do for natural triggers. Perhaps it's your personalities or just human condition in general, but you could achieve ridiculous benefits to humanity if you actually did something in addition to fighting."

Doctor Mother nodded. "While I agree to a point, I think you're dismissing the importance of fighting far too easily. Now, what do you need for this better end of yours?"

"Door privileges and credit, although I can manage the latter myself if you have trouble with it."

"That can be arranged. What will you do first?"

"First I'll fuck up Dragonslayers and free Dragon. She's going to be pivotal going forward."

"What about the restrictions and what she knows about pretty much everything?" Alexandria asked. She had been almost suspiciously quiet, probably because she knew she could squash me like a bug if I were to become a problem. It was typical of her to focus on information security, though.

"Meh. She can be negotiated with, and has a pretty good head on her shoulders. Figuratively, of course, at least for now. And even if she were to reveal stuff it wouldn't affect much of anything in the long run. Some Case 53's might become a problem, though." I looked at all of them. "You're being surprisingly calm and cooperative about all this."

"You seem to know pretty much everything important, and Fortuna's power is rarely wrong when it comes to shortening the path," Legend answered. "You're helping just by telling us things, and it would be relatively easy for us to get rid of you."

I was surprised about Keith's frankness, but he was an experienced leader. Certain pragmatism was expected, even if he held tight to whatever ideals he could. "Right. There's that. Now, if you could arrange the Door privileges, I'll be on my way and you can powwow about, well, everything. Don't forget to read Keith in on your little secrets. I'll be a bit cross if I have to do it instead. Oh, and for the first part I'll need a room that is not this one."

Doctor Mother nodded. "Clairvoyant, Doormaker, Max has Door privileges for now. We'll see if he keeps them."

I lifted my left eyebrow. She shrugged. "This might not work out, you understand."

I chuckled. "I understand."

"Kurt, please find Max a room. We have some things to talk about," Doc Mom said.

Kurt was already rising up when she said that, and we were in the corridor shortly after that. "You don't really need that line of credit, do you? Especially since you've gone through the computers here, mine included."

I grinned at him. "Perceptive. Yeah, I gave myself access to some of your accounts already."

He nodded. "Do you need a card?"

"Sure. That's one thing I can't too easily do, although there are ways around ID checks."

"Do you mind if I suggest a cape name for you?" Number Man asked.

"Nah. Although I have a pretty good idea about what it's going to be."

"I'd go with Wireless if I were you."

I grinned at him again. "Great minds, Kurt, great minds."


End file.
